Unlocking Bolivia’s Lithium Wealth 10:00, 2009 (Ref: SA09738)

Description

High in the Andes, lies the world’s largest reserves of the mineral lithium which is likely to help power the electric and hybrid vehicles of the future.

The lithium is locked in the brine of Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flats in the world.

If oil transformed the wealth and economic clout of the Middle East during the last century – is lithium about to do the same for South America’s poorest country – Bolivia?

With demand predicted to massively outstrip supply companies from across the world are now queuing up to register their interest with a government that is determined to keep its resources under state control. This film investigates.